Steven Taylor: My mate Chopra is no bottle job

Sep 13 2009 by Neil Farrington, Sunday Sun

“He had that chance for Sunderland, but every striker misses chances or makes the wrong decision. It was unfair to blame him for that.

“It was against Newcastle, but if it had been against another team, they (Sunderland’s fans) would have just forgotten about it.

“Remember, with his background, it was a big risk for him going to Sunderland after Cardiff, but he had wanted to play football and establish himself.”

And if seven goals in five Championship outings this season – and eight in seven games overall – are not warning enough, Taylor has cautioned his team-mates against forgetting about Chopra’s predatory instincts today.

“I know how good he is as a goalscorer,” adds Taylor. “And he will definitely feel he still has a point to prove to Newcastle.

“Every time he plays against Newcastle he will want to do that, but hopefully it won’t happen this weekend and we’ll keep him quiet.

If not, then Taylor and his fellow Geordies will be left to reflect how valuable Chopra – given away to Cardiff for nothing three years ago – could be to United right now.

“We’ve had some injuries lately, and I’m sure if Michael was here now he would be playing,.

“When he was here, we had Alan Shearer, Craig Bellamy and Shola – three top strikers – and it was difficult for him.

“And if Newcastle didn’t want him, why shouldn’t he have gone elsewhere?”

Not that United being down to the bare bones is all bad news, Taylor believes . . . not when team spirit and a sense of mutual responsibility have replaced the naked greed of former eras.

“There just wasn’t the same feeling around the place last season,” he says, “but I don’t know why that was.”

He won’t name names, yet he doesn’t shy away from admitting a summer purge has cleansed the atmosphere within the dressing room.

“Danny Simpson hit the nail on the head when he came here (on loan from Manchester United in August).

“He said he’d heard loads of bad stuff about Newcastle, but when he came here he realised that was a load of rubbish.

“This is a proper football club again.”